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The answer to this question, it seems, is pretty straightforward: they want the next Pinterest.

Pinterest certainly looks like a venture capital firm’s dream. Start-up costs can’t be high, and it looks like the company can manage for a while on a small staff. Growth has been incredible. And, it hooks into one of the biggest social media trends on the planet: sharing photos. Pinterest is still young, and it has already become a major force on the web. According to PEHub, it’s one of the fastest-growing social media properties in history.

So, what makes Pinterest stand out? Charles Hudson of SoftTech VC tells PEHub that the ‘Pinterests of the world … they just look different’.

And, it’s the look that matters these days.

Facebook sees around 250 mn photos posted every day, and it was the addition of photo sharing features that drove an astounding increase in engagement. I don’t have the stats, but as an early Twitter user (2008), I can tell you that my world changed with TwitPic, which at the time consisted of emailing photos from my phone to a bizarre email address at TwitPic that I always had trouble remembering.

Needless to say, Pinterest is incredibly hot right now. And, it is a simple, easy-to-use social media application. In almost no time, it has risen to an implied valuation of $200 mn. That’s the sort of thing that makes venture capital firms salivate.